Mass.trooper makes daring water rescue

By Laura CrimaldiThe Boston Herald

BOSTON, Mass. — A Rhode Island woman will get to enjoy Easter dinner with family today thanks to her seat belt and the heroic actions of an alert Massachusetts state trooper who came to her aid after her SUV spun off the highway into a marsh.

“She was just in shock. She just said, ‘I can’t believe I’m OK,’ ” said state trooper Vincent Noe, who found Heather Scibisz-Nicora, 34, conscious and alert after her Jeep Liberty landed in waist-deep water off Route 24 north yesterday morning.

“Luckily, her putting on her seat belt allowed her to have Easter Sunday with her family,” said Noe, 27.

Noe, who’s been a trooper for two years, had pulled over a vehicle for speeding on the Stoughton-Avon line at about 8:50 a.m. when he saw another car change lanes and cut off Scibisz-Nicora, who was in the center lane.

Scibisz-Nicora, a resident of Bristol, R.I., jerked her steering wheel to the right to avoid a crash, but lost control of her SUV, which spun, hit gravel in the breakdown lane and flipped onto its roof, state police said.

Noe had to wade into waist-deep water to check on Scibisz-Nicora.

“She was wet and cold, but she was alright,” he said.

Scibisz-Nicora was taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton for treatment. She could not be reached yesterday for comment.